When Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, entered the 117th Congress in 2021, Tim Walz was already serving as governor in Minnesota after his six terms in Congress. But on many occasions, Gonzales heard about Walz’s claim to be the “senior-most enlisted service member to have been elected to Congress” based on his service as a command sergeant major (E9).
The discussion never really bothered Gonzales, himself a retired master chief petty officer (E9), but he recalls hearing about it. “I’m not really the type that cares about this sort of title or brags about my service,” he told me in a phone interview. But in recent days, as more disclosures about Walz’s service have come to light, it dawned on Gonzales and his team that he was the elected representative actually entitled to that particular honorific. “I was under the impression that he was an E9, so when I learned the truth, I was like, ‘Are you kidding?’”
In a tweet Thursday evening, Gonzales said, “I proudly served 20 years in the U.S. Navy, with multiple deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq — retired as a Master Chief. Yes, that makes me the highest ranked enlisted service member to EVER serve in Congress. A claim Gov. Walz has falsely paraded around. It’s important to call out DISHONESTY.” He went on to call for Walz’s withdrawal as Democrats’ presumptive vice presidential nominee.
In our interview barely an hour before sending the tweet, Gonzales minced even fewer words: “In my eyes, that’s stolen valor,” an affront to the honor and distinction of those who have legitimately earned their stripes through years of dedicated service.
Veterans Understand the Importance of Clarity on This
In Congress, titles and honors typically reflect a history of service that is sometimes embellished by campaign consultants to better market their candidate. But in the military — where titles and honors represent sacrifice and sacred commitment — the precision of the words used is extremely important. When these two worlds collide, a fierce debate can erupt.
And that is where the criticism is most pointed, “What upsets me, is how it shows a pattern of dishonesty. If he’s gonna lie about something like his rank and service, what else is he lying about? It’s part of the culture of being in uniform. To erode that integrity, and the fact that he’s willing to do that? It makes my skin crawl when you have politicians that will say and do anything,” Gonzales said.
He also emphasized that the rank of E9 is “just different.” As the highest enlisted rank, making E9 represents a huge turning point in your career. It’s not something you receive, get revoked, and forget the details of your real rank. No, “this promotion is a huge hurdle — a life-changing deal and a very proud moment,” Gonzales added.
Nobody Who Served Forgets His Duty History
He continued, “Anyone who served, three years or 30 years, knows exactly what they did and didn’t do. I did 20 years in, I remember all my deployments, commands, and final pay grade.”
Asked whether Walz’s remarks about “weapons of war that I carried in war” were proof that Walz was claiming to have served in combat, the congressman was only slightly more forgiving, saying, “It upsets me because you know if you carried a weapon in combat or not. It’s OK that not every service member goes to war. Let you record be your record.”
Gonzales was also deeply concerned about the continuing revelations that Walz had accepted the conditional promotion to command sergeant major and then retired after his unit’s pending deployment to Iraq became known to him. Harris-Walz surrogates have hotly contested this accusation online, but a March 2005 press release from his official campaign site clearly establishes that Walz knew of the pending deployment while still in the National Guard and before his retirement. Worse for Walz is his own quote saying, “I have a responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve if called on.” Fifty-seven days later Walz retired.
An animated Gonzales observed, “He was supposed to be their leader, and he failed them. It’s disqualifying.”
Calls on Walz to Withdraw
Ironically, a review of congressional records suggests that even as a master sergeant (E8), Walz would have qualified to be considered “the senior-most enlisted service member to have been elected to Congress” until Gonzales was sworn in since Sen. John Tower retired as a chief boatswain’s mate (E7). Likewise, most voters would easily excuse Walz’s decision to retire with war looming and a toddler at home. But Walz chose to accept the conditional promotion and retire before he fully earned it and could be shipped overseas to combat operations with his home unit.
In both cases, Walz chose to stretch his integrity and misrepresent the facts over the past two decades instead of coming clean. Gonzales considers this a “fireable offense” and believes, “Tim Walz lied to us all; he clearly lied to Vice President Harris.”
It remains to be seen if Harris will reconsider her running mate, but as Politico reported Thursday, the campaign has already “tweaked” its biography of Walz.
